Olympic experience ends on sour note for Myslicki

Canada's Jason Myslicki looks on after completing the Men's 10 KM cross country portion of the Nordic Combined at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, BC, during the 2010 Olympic Games, Thursday February 25, 2010.

Photograph by: Peter Thompson/Canwest
, Peter Thompson/Canwest

WHISTLER, B.C. — Shortly after ascending to the top of the ski jump, Jason Myslicki hit rock bottom.

Myslicki leaned on his skis and sobbed after what he thought was the first portion of Thursday’s Winter Olympic Games Nordic combined event at Whistler Olympic Park.

The jump covered 60 metres on a day when his rivals routinely exceeded 100 metres. When he stopped to talk to the media, a question moved him to tears. Instead of walking away, Myslicki regained his composure and continued the interview.

“My dreams were shattered right from the takeoff,” Myslicki said.

It was a lonely, raw moment for someone who returned to the Olympics largely as a result of his own initiative, and often his own expense.

His unshakable determination overcame minimal funding, allowing him to compete in Nordic combined — a sport that combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing — before a friendly crowd at Whistler Olympic Park.

To reach that point, the 32-year-old Thunder Bay, Ont., product had saved money by hitchhiking to occasional training runs at the ski jump. Friends and family members chipped in along the way.

Myslicki also sought out sponsorships, which covered expenses such as those incurred by travel to Europe. Once there, he often relied on the goodwill of his peers to provide assistance, such as a ride here or there, or even some wax.

It was not a typical path to the Olympics, but he got there.

“It’s amazing to even qualify for the Olympics,” Myslicki said. “I knew a while back I had achieved that, so I worked hard to put together the best competition I could today and I failed big-time on that, so it’s frustrating and it hurts. Now I’m going to have to find a way to start the cross-country, never mind finish it. It’s going to be a battle.”

Minutes later, Myslicki was granted an unexpected reprieve. Weather conditions had changed during the first round of jumping, with the wind and snow creating an uneven playing field. A restart was ordered after 31 of the 46 jumpers had already gone.

His second jump covered 99.5 metres — not a great distance, but not the worst, either. He was 42nd among 46 jumpers after the prolonged first round of the individual large hill/10-kilometre event.

“I don’t feel like I succeeded,” Myslicki said after the second jump. “In getting back, that was the toughest thing that I have ever, ever had to do. It felt like I died, and now, walking around, I feel alive again — but more like a zombie than anything. Lose everything, get a second chance.”

These Olympics as a whole represent a second chance for Myslicki, who retired as a competitor after finishing 41st four years ago in Turin, Italy. At the time, he was frustrated by a lack of funding and hampered by injuries.

During the hiatus, the Calgary-based Myslicki was the head coach of the Alberta ski jumping and Nordic combined teams. He worked with youthful Altius Nordic Ski Club members while also taking up speedskating. Rejuvenated by time away from the circuit, along with the allure of a home-country Olympics, he returned to action two years ago.

Myslicki began the 2010 Games by finishing last among 45 competitors in the individual normal hill/10-km event on Feb. 14. He was emotional after that race, his voice cracking on several occasions, but nothing like Thursday.

Nonetheless, he answered every question posed by the media — albeit with some pauses. At one point following the first jump, he was asked why he simply did not decline requests from the media.

“I can only think that things will change and Sport Canada will get their act together and help our sport, because that’s not fair,” said Myslicki, who wants to serve as an example to young athletes, including those he used to coach.

“I was really hoping to open up doors by performing well for them. I can only hope that things change for them so their road is easier than this, and that they have support and get a fair fighting chance to be at the start gate and know that they are on equal turf with their competitors.”

Nordic Combined Ski Canada (NCSC) has an annual budget of approximately $170,000, according to the association’s board chair, Tannis Carlson. That amount covers seven national-team athletes, coaching and administration.

NCSC received $35,000 from Own the Podium, which earmarks most of its funding for sports with medal potential.

“My entire budget for training is just the wax budget for the Olympics for many of these teams,” Myslicki said after the first jump. “We don’t have the resources in sport. That’s not why I performed how I did today, because I can compete with them, but I’d like the guys behind me to have more like what they (the other athletes) have.”

There was only one skier behind Myslicki when he finished the cross-country portion of Nordic combined. At the end of an emotion-filled day, he was 44th among the 45 athletes who completed the ski jumping and cross-country components.

“It’s not how I imagined it,” Myslicki said. “That’s why I originally started cross-country, so that I could get away from things and be myself out on the course. Today, I started out with a lot of frustration, anger, disappointment — everything — after the jumping. But I tried to be positive after the feedback from my coach that I did do a really good jump and I was quite unlucky with wind conditions. I saw a lot of guys who were unlucky, guys who should have had a medal today who were way back.

“I took it for what it was and knew that I had to ski my own race. I tried to put aside the tears and just focus on getting to the finish line as quickly as I could.”

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Canada's Jason Myslicki looks on after completing the Men's 10 KM cross country portion of the Nordic Combined at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, BC, during the 2010 Olympic Games, Thursday February 25, 2010.

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